Seismic security

Yellowstone Supervolcano would cause volcanic WINTER bringing DEEP FREEZE

One of the world’s foremost volcanologists, Professor Stephen Sparks, revealed the astonishing impact that volcanoes like Yellowstone could have if they erupt to their full potential. He told Express Online: “If there was one it would have an enormous global impact. It would have dire consequences for food security, for trade and for a short time, a few years, there would be a deep freeze.

“There would be enormous climate effects.

“A very big eruption puts a lot of pollution into the atmosphere that reflects the sun’s radiation away from the Earth.

“The bigger the eruption, the more pollution there is and the pollution lasts for a longer time.

“So with these very big eruptions the volcanic winter is really severe.

“The models suggest that the temperature drops by maybe ten, fifteen degrees centigrade across the Earth.”

Professor Sparks added: “Remember, there’s one of these things every 20000 years.

“So it’s a very, very rare event.”

The last major eruption at Yellowstone was 640,000 years ago.

But earlier this year, Yellowstone National Park’s geyser erupted three times in six weeks, sparking fears a huge volcanic eruption was brewing.

Steamboat Geyser, which spewed water 91 metres high, erupted on March 15, April 19 and 25.